Insufferable
by Avery-Sports-Chick-21
Summary: Paul is the lady's man of La Push but when he imprints, Karma is coming to get him in the form of Jenny List
1. Chapter 1

"Jenny!"

I shut my locker and spun around to face my best friend Kim.

"Hey Kimmy, what's up?" I asked starting to walk with her down the hall of La Push High School.

She started talking about the math homework from last night then cut off suddenly as her longtime crush Jared Thail walked by. I elbowed her and hissed "Kim, stop staring"

"sorry" she shook her head getting rid of the daydreams, "okay, anyway did you figure out how to do number 23 for the calc homework? I got the first part but then…"

I stopped listening, thinking about what groceries I should get after school that night. With my mom never around, I took care of my younger brother Brady and sister Maggie. While trying to decide between apples and pears, I suddenly ran into a wall. Well a muscle wall. Paul Walker. Paul was the "bad boy" of the school with a hot temper, longer shaggy hair, a leather jacket, and a beautiful motorcycle. Along with the hot temper was a hot body; and he knew it. He was the man-whore of the school, going from one girl to the next while the former girl was still falling all over herself to get his attention again.

He looked me up and down, "sorry babe, maybe I could make it up to you? What do you say to a movie?" he asked winking at me. Of course I would run into him on laundry day when all my jeans were sitting in the washer at home and I was stuck wearing a skirt.

"No thanks" I said turning away without a backward glance.

She looked at me, "Why'd you turn him down Jen? I mean he's no Jared, but he's pretty hot. You could use a good lay" she said nudging me and giggling to herself.

"Are you serious? Kim, no! I'm not going to go on a "date" with Paul Walker just so he can try to get in my pants then never talk to me again. And you know I don't do that stuff on the first date which is all he'd be getting anyway."

"Well maybe he'd change for you." she said dreamily

"Are you crazy?"

She huffed, "You always take the fun out of dreaming."

"You mean fantasizing?" I asked raising my eyebrows teasingly.

She huffed and grabbed my arm pulling me into class while I laughed.

We walked into our calc class and sat down. This was my best class and it always managed to take my mind off of whatever I was thinking. Kim of course spent the entire class staring at Jared and copied my notes during break while I ate my breakfast.

"You know Kimmy you should really pay better attention. Or talk to him." I said, my mouth full of cereal. She gasped, "I can't do that! What would I say? What would he say? No, no, no. I would just turn red and freeze."

I shrugged, "he's just a person, and he should be thanking God that you even bothered to look at him." She was of course was gorgeously exotic as a Native American with long dark brown hair and big dark brown eyes, with high cheek bones. I unfortunately took after the white half of my parents with green and hazel eyes and lighter skin, and dark curly hair.

I finished my cereal while Kim scribbled furiously trying to finish taking down the notes from today so she could go back to dreaming about Jared and naming their kids. I snorted laughing at my joke, and drank the rest of my milk. I pulled out my schedule to check what I had next and double check that I had finished all my homework when I was suddenly pushed sideways into Kim and off my stool.

I looked up, of course there stood Paul laughing and starting to throw a football that he was apparently trying to catch when he so rudely pushed me over.

"Excuse me!" I said standing up and dusting myself off.

He through the football and when I yelled the second time finally turned, "Damn baby, you're cute." He said looking me up and down. He reached out towards me, "I'm sorry sweet thing, how about I take you out tonight and make it up to you" he winked.

I furrowed my brow, "um, did you think that I would say yes if you kept pestering? Because guess what buddy, it's still a no!"

"Wait, I already asked you out?"

I gasped, he seriously didn't even remember me from less than three hours ago?

I glared at him and turned grabbing my bag and Kimmy's arm, "come on" I grumbled.

When we had turned the corner I finally went off, "That Paul! He is so full of himself and thinks he can get any girl and he doesn't even remember their name let alone what they look like. How much of a piece of shit do you have to be to not even remember asking someone out three hours before you ask them again?! Not even three hours! I can't believe-"

"Jen stop! If I didn't know better I'd say you are attracted to him" Kim said interrupting my tirade.

"No I'm not! I'm –"

"Shhh, it's okay Jenny, I won't tell anyone"

I rolled my eyes, "you're insufferable".

She shrugged as the bell rang telling us to go to our next and final period of the day. Kim waved and turned down a different hallway as we didn't have this period together.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day we had a different set of classes one of which Paul was in unfortunately. Luckily for me that day he seemed very sullen and quiet and didn't bother me.

A couple days later, Paul was absent from class, making my day very quiet and peaceful. Then the next day he was gone again. And again and again.

The next week of school continued in a similar fashion, with the biggest news being our football team actually winning a game.

"Oh. My. God. Jenny you'll never believe what I just heard!" Kim ran over to me and plopped down next to me in our bio class.

I finished what I was writing and turned, asking tiredly, "what Kim?"

"I heard" she started, pausing for dramatics, "Paul Walker met an escort in Seattle and they ran away to elope! And that's why he hasn't been here for a week!"

I stared at her for a while trying to figure out how to respond, "Actually, I heard he got hit by a car and is in the hospital in a coma." Kim and I whipped around, hearing a timid voice chime into our conversation. The girl sitting behind us ducked her head in embarrassment. She was part African American with medium length curly brown hair and hazel eyes. "Sorry I didn't mean to butt in but everyone's saying something different, and I just kind of blend in so I hear everything" she said smiling meekly.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what was your name again?" I asked bluntly.

"Sorry, I'm Amber. I moved here this year"

I nodded and turned back to my homework. "Hi! I'm Kim and that's Jenny. What else did you hear?"

I laughed quietly to myself and shook my head at Kim's antics while turning back to my homework. Kim and Amber gossiped about the whereabouts of Paul Walker. I heard talk of gangs, joining the military, going to prison, and just plain running away in addition to the previous marriage and hospitalization rumors.

When the final bell rang I went to the library to get an early start on my homework before picking Maggie up from the middle school next door. Brady walked in sluggishly with his backpack thrown over one shoulder.

"Wow braids, what happened? How late did you stay up last night?" I asked as he slumped into the chair across from me.

"I was up late studying for freaking Mr. Johns chem midterm."

"How do you think you did?"

He shrugged and laid his head on the table taking a nap while I finished some homework.

After picking up Maggie, we finally parked my little 2001 Toyota corolla in the driveway and dropped our bags and shoes in the foyer. I headed to the kitchen to start cooking dinner so I could start the crock pot before making stew.

It had been almost two weeks and Paul was still missing with no explanation. Normally I wouldn't think too much of this but now Jacob Black, Embry Call and Kim's obsession Jared Thail had also gone missing. Some people said they had seen all of the boys roaming around at the edge of the forest. It was all heresy according to me though, and it seemed some people just wanted more attention from the rest of the school for bringing in new gossip.

Later that day I had been sitting in our required senior civics class doodling in my notebook while the teacher played some video about human rights when suddenly the door banged open. I kid you not everyone in the class jumped out of their half-asleep state. From the small geeky kids to the biggest football players. I'm pretty sure I even heard a shriek and it didn't come from any of the girls.

In the doorway was a tall figure blocking out the light coming from the hallway. He cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled his feet a little. A strange gesture coming from someone that was about the size of the doorway.

"Sorry Ms. Jenks. I uh didn't mean to uh push so hard." I heard the sexiest voice say.

"It's ok… Paul? Is that you?" Mr. Jenks asked squinting.

_Paul Walker was back. _And man had he changed. He had grown about 6 inches and looked like he had been living in the gym. _Huh. Maybe that's why no one had seen him lately_. I laughed at my own joke under my breath. Mr. Jenks walked quietly over to Paul as they started talking. I took that time to take in the changes. Not only was Paul bigger in every way, he also cut his hair to about an inch long instead of the five it used to be. His face had somehow become more defined and it seemed like he had become more subdued. He didn't wear the leather jacket anymore, instead opting for a black shirt, dark jeans and white nike air forces.

I could tell by the whispers around me that everyone else was taking in the new Paul. The girls were mumbling about how _absolutely gorgeous_ he had become, and the guys were staying oddly quiet.

Mr. Jenks pointed to the back of the room. Actually to the seat in front of me. He lumbered over to the desk, not looking at anyone and swung his bag onto the floor, throwing himself into the seat and putting his head down on the desk.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: I TOTALLY FORGOT TO PUT THE DISCLAIMER IN THE BEGINNING OF THE OTHER CHAPERTS but I definitely don't own twilight, and all the characters belong to Stephanie Meyers. I'm so sorry for forgetting!**

Within the next week Jared Thail and Jacob Black both came back to school. Thankfully ending Kims incessant worrying, but now restarting her Jared pining.

"Have you _seen_ Jared? Jenny he was gorgeous before, but now…. wow. He's absolutely _amazing." _She continued rambling on, though I started to ignore her. She sighed looking at me, "well I can tell you're just so interested in this. I'm gonna go get lunch. Do you want anything?" I gave her an apologetic smile, "Can you get me an apple?"

She smiled understandingly and nodded turning to get in line.

I turned back to my homework, losing myself in the letters and numbers that is calculus.

Kimmy came back to the table and sighed. I looked up to see that she way staring dreamily out the window.

I cocked and eyebrow, "What's up little miss dreamer?"

She turned and smiled at me, "You'll never guess what happened when I was in line Jenny. It was amazing!" she frowned, "well I think it was amazing. Maybe it wasn't" she trailed off.

"Girl just tell me what happened!"

"Okay" she said turning toward me, "so I was in line looking at the apples right? And when I reached for one the person behind me reached for the same one and we bumped into each other. And guess who the other person was! Jared! We turned and looked at each other and it was like magic… but then he started shaking and growling and Paul showed up and dragged him out of the cafeteria. So I'm not really sure what that means." She trailed off with a confused expression on her face before turning back to her lunch, staring at it for a couple seconds before shaking her head and taking a bit.

I looked at her, working through the recent development in my head before just sighing and saying "okay, I have no idea what that means but don't over think it yet Kim, like I know you're about to. Just wait and see if anything happens, and if it does then go from there and if it doesn't then just forget about it."

She nodded and turned her attention back to finishing her lunch.

I started thinking about all the weird things that had been going on that week, from Paul and Jared returning to how Jared acted around Kimmy. There must be something in their water to make them grow so much, but I wasn't going to waste any more energy on trying to figure out the impossible. I needed that brain power for other things. Like making a list of everything I needed to do when I got home.

I needed to pick up Maggie of course, and finish all my homework, take out the trash, cook dinner, pack lunches for tomorrow, do the laundry… Well I had picked up groceries a couple days ago, so I didn't need to do that, my homework could be fit in when I was waiting for the laundry to get washed or for dinner to be cooked, and lunches could be made from left overs. Mom was coming back tonight, so I'd have to make sure the house was spotless, and the fridge was stocked and cleaned.

The bell rang bringing me out of my musings and back into the real world. I looked up from my lunch and started packing up to leave when I felt eyes. I slowly turned and saw that the staring was coming from the "gang's" table, but it wasn't directed towards me like I had originally thought.

"Kim!" I hissed, "Don't look over there right now but Jared is staring at you again."

I was still facing their table to I glanced up to see him still staring, then I noticed a movement next to him and glanced over. What would I see but of course Paul. And what was he doing? Hitting on some blond bimbo whose tits were about to fall out of the fabric she called a shirt. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Kim and Jared. Kim was so tense, with her legs shaking, she was about to burst. My eyes flicked back to Jared to see he was still staring intently at Kim.

I turned to her, "Kim, just go talk to him."

She stopped shaking, and looked at her hands. She looked up at me, "ok… but I'm gonna wait until next period. I sit next to him, so I should be able to talk to him I think."

I nodded then went back to my lunch.

I plopped down in 5th period, looking down to pull out my notebook and pencils. This was my second favorite class, but also one of the hardest. Since La Push was so small, we didn't have separate classes for honors and regular level science classes, so me and the five others that wanted to take higher level chemistry all sat in the back and worked on slightly varied labs and problems while the rest of the class goofed around and talked. Of course since there was only one chemistry class, anyone who took it was in my class, and it was just my luck that a couple people from "the gang" were included.

Paul of course was one of those, along with Embry and Jacob, though surprisingly Jacob was one of the few in the higher level course with me.

"Hey Jenny," Jacob turned to me, "Do you think you could explain what we've been doing the last couple weeks? I was really sick so I didn't really feel like reading about thermodynamics."

I chuckled and flipped through my notebook, "yeah you can copy my notes, or I can help you with the homework during our break period tomorrow if you want."

He beamed at me, "wow that'd be great Jenny! You're the best!"

I gave him my notebook with the lecture notes to copy, and opened my copy of the chemistry textbook to go over some of the examples. The bell rang, and Jacob handed me my notebook back, making plans to meet in the library the next day.

The school day was finally over, so I headed to the library again to start on my homework while waiting for Maggie.

It was finally 3:30, so I gathered my stuff, wondering where Brady was.

After picking Maggie up, I headed to the grocery store, quickly grabbing some carrots, chicken and rice before rushing back home. Mom would be home at 8, giving me four hours to get everything done. I started the laundry, then starting from the front of the house going backwards, cleaned. I mopped the front hall, picked up and vacuumed the living room and kitchen, and all the bedrooms. It was 7 now so I had an hour to cook dinner, and clean the rest of the kitchen.

"Maggie!" I shouted up the stairs, "dinners ready! Come eat before mom gets home!"

She thundered down the stairs, jumping into her seat before starting to wolf down the food. I packed up the rest of the left overs but left a plate out for mom, checking the clock anxiously. Brady still wasn't home, and mother was about to be.

The front lock clicked just as I dried Maggie's plate, and we both froze. I nodded at her, we would get through this.

I slowly turned around, plastering a smile on my face as I heard the clicking of heels. Mother was home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: sorry guys! I've been so busy with the new quarter and a new job, I haven't had time to write anything, but hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. Also, please please please REVIEW! I would love some feedback about the story and/or my writing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or anything, it's all Stephanie Meyers'**

"Jennifer! Where is my food?"

The screech that is my mother reached my ears and I tried to hold back a wince as I closed my eyes. I just needed to get through the next three hours and she'd be gone for a week.

I slowly walked into the kitchen where my mother stood, purse on the counter and blackberry in her hand.

"Hello Mother. I wrapped your food in plastic and put it in the fridge for you, all the laundry is done and folded and Brady and Maggie's homework is all done" I was holding my breath, by whole body rigid waiting for whatever remark would befall me.

She glanced at me, then around the kitchen, "why is my food in the fridge, it should be ready and waiting on the table when I get home."

I internally rolled my eyes, why yes of course mother next time I'll do that. Oh wait, I never know when you're actually going to come home! "We all ate already and I didn't want your food to spoil so I wrapped it and put it away"

"Jennifer you know we all need to eat together, go get your brother and sister and for god sakes heat up my food"

I sighed, I was hoping she would leave them out of it.

I stuck her plate in the microwave, and trudged up the stairs to Brady's room, "Braids, Mom wants us to eat downstairs, change into a nicer shirt and fix your hair then come down."

Once I had gathered Brady and Maggie, we slowly walked downstairs trying to keep the smiles on our faces. Once we reached the bottom, we looked at each other, silently promising each other that we would get through the hour of disapproval together.

Once Mother had left again, we were finally about to breathe again and relax. Every week on the same day she came home and criticized everything we did, then bitched about how ungrateful we are that she's putting a roof over our heads and paying for everything. I didn't need this shit on top of everything else in my life.

The next day, my alarm went off late, and Brady didn't want to wake up again, so we were very late. I didn't have time to shove all my books into my bag, so I was carrying them and a few loose leaf papers. Since I was rushing the papers were flapping against the wind and starting to fall. As I looked down to adjust them I was suddenly knocked off my feet, and my books were splayed out on the floor. I sat there stunned for a couple seconds, but snapped out of it when I heard

"Watch where you're going bitch"

I snapped my head up to see none other than fucking Paul Walker's back shaking and walking away from me. What the fuck. That mother fucker thinks he can mow me over causing me to drop everything and _then_ he has the nerve to call me a bitch! Well he has another thing coming!

Unfortunately the bell rang, breaking me out of my rant.

"Kim you don't even understand how rude it was! He didn't apologize or try to help me up, nothing! Kim are you even listening to me?"

I waved my hand in from of her face, "Jeez Jenny, what?!"

I pursed my lips and sat back in my chair, "you really weren't listening to me"

She sighed, "look, I'm sorry Jen, I just can't get over how weird Jared is being. Today in English he stared at me the entire time! He didn't say anything to me, he just stared. It's kind of freaking me out."

She looked really worried, so I sighed but turned to look at Jared, "honestly Kimmy he's not worth your time. If he likes you he'd come talk to you, it seems like he's just being a creeper."

She slowly nodded, "you're right, I have to start studying for my Spanish test anyway. I'm gonna go to the library, but I'll see you later.

She got up and I was left alone with my spaghetti. There were only 5 minutes before the bell was going to ring, and I wasn't even halfway done with my lunch. I started packing up everything but my spaghetti, and I got up to start walking to class. As I was nearing Paul and Jared's table, my foot got caught on someone else's foot, and I lost my grip on my container. I felt like everything was going in slow motion: I fell as the container of spaghetti flew out of my grasp and, of course, right into the middle of Paul's white shirt.

He shoved his chair back as he looked at the noodle dripping from his chest. I slowly stood up and shuffled closer to him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you clumsy shit. You're lucky I don't fucking kill you now dweeb. You're a fucking waste of space, don't ever come near me again." He growled out as he started to shake.

Which was another weird thing, why the fuck did it look like he was about to have a seizure?

As soon as he got those words out, my arm swung forward and I slapped him. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have done that because he started shaking even more.

I looked into his eyes with my narrowed ones, "don't fucking talk to me like that asshole. And don't worry I'll never come near you again as long as I live." I grabbed my container and stormed out, only looking back once to see Jared dragging a staring Paul out of the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I don't own anything**

Amber ran up to me checking me all over while I continued to glare out the door Paul and Jared went through.

I shrugged her off, "I'm fine, thanks. I need to finish my homework." I said stalking out of the cafeteria towards the library.

I didn't see Paul or Jared in any of our other classes that day.

After school I went to the library again to try to squeeze in some homework before picking up Maggie. Brady had been sleeping more, and had progressively gotten grumpier, shown by him slamming the door to the library when entering.

"Brady, what going on with you?" I asked as soon as he sat down, "you're always late in the morning, your grades are slipping, and you're starting to be more of an asshole."

He lifted his head to glare at me

"Brady, I'm serious. Something has to change. Get your grades up and clean your room when we get home. It's starting to smell like a wet dog."

He didn't respond so I nudged him. And again. Still no response.

I rolled my eyes deciding to deal with this when we weren't in a room you were supposed to whisper in. 20 minutes later I packed my bag and woke Brady up.

Once we made it to the parking lot I started to lay into him, "Brady I am tired of this, when we go home, start your homework and once you finish we're gonna talk. This isn't acceptable."

He glanced at me, "oh fuck off, you're not my mom."

I narrowed my eyes at him and spat, "oh and would you rather she were here instead of me? So you can watch her drink herself to the bottom of the bottle, and see the parade of men flow through our house? Do you want to starve? She doesn't care about anything except getting drunk and getting laid."

Brady then started to shake, just like Paul does, "Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You don't know anything, Mom doesn't do that! She's on business trips!"

"Brady do you ever wonder why she stopped bring home 'new dads'? Ever wonder where she stays and why she never had luggage for her 'business trips'?"

He stood there glaring at me, and started shaking more before shouting, "Fuck you! Don't be jealous of me just because Mom loves me more! You're just a fuck up! You're the reason she needs to work so hard, you just suck the money away!"

I stood there in shock, speechless as he ran into the woods. "Brady!" I yelled. No response. I yelled a couple more times with the same outcome before my phone rang.

"Miss List? Maggie has been waiting for about 20 minutes. When will you be here?"

"I'm so sorry, I'll be right there." I hung up still in a daze.

Brady didn't come home that night. I called him about 30 times before fitfully falling asleep. The next morning I woke to Maggie tapping my shoulder, "Jenny? Why are you sleeping in the kitchen?"

I groggily rubbed my eyes and looked around, getting my bearings. "Oh," I yawned, "I just fell asleep doing some reading I guess."

She looked at me suspiciously, "where's Brady?"

I looked around, "Did he not come home last night?"

She shook her head

"Maybe he's at Collin's" I mumbled, then turned to her, "we got in a bit of a fight before picking you up Mags. He must just be cooling off still." I looked at the clock, "Oh! We're late, lets go."

After dropping Maggie off I parked in the high school parking lot and looked around, hoping to see Brady there with Collin and Jason, his two best friends. I spotted Jason walking by himself and ran to catch up with him, "Jason!"

He turned around, "Oh hey Jen, what's up?"

"Do you know where Brady is? He didn't come home last night?"

He shrugged, "No, I'm just assuming he and Collin are skipping."

I tsked, "ok well if you do hear anything let me know ok?"

He nodded then headed toward his other friends.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, my mind filled with worry over where Brady had gone off to. I did notice though, that the "gang" was missing from classes too. Most likely because of Paul's outburst yesterday.

Two days and Brady still didn't come home. On the third day after our fight, I had had it. I dropped Maggie at home with instructions that her homework should be done when I got back, and headed to where I'd last seen Brady: the woods by the school.

"Brady!" I shouted repeatedly as I tromped through the underbrush. Twigs snapped under me and bushes shook around me. "Brady!"

I had been walking through the forest for almost 40 minutes when I started to feel someone watching me, "Who's there?" I shouted somewhat shakily. "Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" my voice was trembling.

I heard a snap behind me, "You shouldn't be here."

I spun around, my eyes adjusting to the fading light and I squinted to see who it was.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thanks for the positive response, I'm sorry I don't post very often, I've just been crazy busy. Please review, I'd love to have some feedback!**

**I don't own anything!**

My eyes adjusted to the light behind the hulking body, as facial features started to take shape, but not enough to make eye contact.

I rolled my eyes, "of course it's Paul fucking Walker" I huffed under my breath. "Leave me alone Paul, remember, you wanted me to never talk to you again?"

He looked at me confused, "what are you talking about?"

"Really you don't even remember yelling at me for spilling spaghetti on you, then storming out and missing school for a few days? Cool, glad I made such an impression."

I rolled my eyes and turned away, "anyway, I'm looking for my brother so if you could just fuck off and go back to the gym, or whatever hole you live in, that's be great."

"Wait" he boomed, "your brother? Are you Brady's sister?"

I narrowed my eyes and turned back to him, "yes, why? Are you guys corrupting him? You and the 'gang' better not touch him!"

He started shaking, "you don't know what you're talking about! We're protectors!"

By this point he was shaking and growling, so I started walking backward; this was freaky. Suddenly I hear the bushes behind Paul rustling, and another giant body steps out.

"I thought I hear you Paul" Jake stepped out chuckling slightly. He looked at me, "hey Jen what're you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for Brady, Jake. Have you seen him?"

"oh" he said, shuffling his feet a bit, "yeah we, uh, found him. He had fallen deeper in the woods, and, uh, got cut up a bit. So we took him back to our friends' house, you know Emily right? Emily Clearwater? Yeah so he's there sleeping now, you shouldn't disturb him though. He uh, we gave him some medicine to help, so he's out cold. But we'll bring him home when he's feeling better"

Jake then grabbed Paul, who was shaking less at this point, and lugged him out of my sight before I could say anything.

I stood there, stunned, for a bit longer before the cold started making its way into my bones. I headed back to my car and debated going to Emily's instead of listening to Jake, when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jenny?" I heard a high voice say, "when are you getting home? I think Mom's on her way home soon."

"Oh, uh, ok I'm on my way. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

I swore under my breath, and hung up, shaking myself out of the stupor the encounter had put me in, and headed home.

I drove up to the house, feeling dread creep up on me as I neared the door.

I turned the knob with bated breath, and the minute I stepped into the house I heard a clatter in the kitchen. I debated whether to confront Mother now or try to hide in my room. No, if I'm not there, she'll take it out on Maggie.

I walked into the kitchen to see Mother leaning against the counter, listening as Maggie told her about her school day.

"Ah Jennifer" she says, turning to me the minute I step in to the room, "I see you decided to come home, have you?"

She then turned to Maggie, "Margaret, go upstairs, would you dear? I need to talk to your sister."

Maggie looks at me, and I nod. I know she's worried but she can't see this.

As soon as we hear Maggie's door close, Mother turns to me.

"So it's not enough that I paid for all your surgery's? That I paid for the slut that your father left with? That you brought in to our house? I pay for the roof over your head and the food on your plate, and you can't just be here when I ask you to? And where is Brady? Did you let him out on a weekday? I know his grades are slipping. You're a terrible influence on him, I can't trust you to do anything."

She's spitting her words out by the end of this, leaning in, spitting in my face.

"No, I've been telling Brady that he needs to get it together. And—"

"Shut up you stupid girl" she sneers as she slaps me across the face.

I close my eyes, trying to brace myself. It's starting.

She grabs my arm, twisting the skin, squeezing the bones. Her nails dig into my wrist, drawing blood. She yanks down on my arm with her left hand as her right reels back and slaps me again. My mother is little but she is a strong one.

I whimper, and she scoffs, "oh does that hurt? Maybe next time you'll remember to do what I told you to do."

She throws my arm back at me, and I clutch my wrist.

Her face takes on a scarily calm façade, "sometimes I think that I should have done something better, but then I remember that you are your father's daughter, so how could I have even had a chance?"

She turns back to me, "clean yourself up, and get down here and make dinner.

I scamper up to my room and shut the door, leaning against the wall. One day I'm getting out of here, and I'm taking Brady and Maggie with me. I won't let her do this to them.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Don't own anything**

I take a couple deep breaths, then walk towards the mirror on my dresser.

"Ok Jenny, you can do this. Just make her dinner and get out of there. We'll check on Mags and maybe stay there until she leaves." I say nodding to myself.

I look up into my eyes, nodding once more as I fix my hair and makeup before going down and making dinner for the she-devil

After fixing the meal with no further incidents, I escape upstairs and do some homework in Maggie's room.

"Jenny, why does Mom shout so much?"

I look up to Maggie's curious eyes, "Well, honey, sometimes Mom gets angry and to get rid of that anger she has to shout at people."

"But why is she angry?"

I sigh, trying to think of a simple answer to put her at ease, "Mom has a lot of stress right now sweetie, and it's best for you to focus on doing well in school, ok?"

"Ok Jenny"

That girl is so kind, I would hate for Mother to get her hands on her and corrupt the innocence she so deserves. I vow right then, never to let Mother harm her, and if anything happens, I will take her and Brady and move to Seattle.

The night comes and goes; Mother leaves a couple hours after dinner without saying anything. She's probably too blacked out to even remember she has children upstairs.

That morning I peek into Brady's room, sighing after seeing it empty again. Maybe I'll ask Jake what's going on, see if he knows more than he's letting on.

I go through the motions during the day, dead tired after the past couple days and nights stressing about Brady. I answer questions when asked, and robotically eat my lunch while listening to Kim debate with herself the merits of talking to Jared first. It seems after him being gone for a couple days as well, she's starting the rethink the "leaving him alone" plan.

The cafeteria doors open, and I barely notice, except for the fact that the entire student body had gone silent, including Kim: something I thought was impossible. She whispers my name, breaking me out of my thoughts and I turn to face her.

"Huh?" I grunt, looking at her confused. She's sitting there with her mouth open, then jerks her head towards the doors behind me, right as I feel a tap on my shoulder.

I spin around, "Brady." I say, just a whisper, not believing my eyes. As I look at him my eyes start to water, and I jump up, hugging him. This proves difficult, as in the four days he's been gone, he seems to have gone through a second puberty, sprouting up to ridiculous heights compared to my 5' 4". Gone is the shoulder length hair that is customary for our town, and in its place is a buzz cut, similar to that of the "gang"

I start to shake my head, "no. No no no. What happened Brady? You were gone, I thought you died. And now you're back. But you don't look like you. My baby brother, Oh my God" I cover my mouth with my hands, shedding tears now.

Brady starts to shake until a giant hand lands on his shoulder. He looks back and nods, then stops shaking. I follow his gaze and see Quil, one of Jake's friends.

I furrow my brows, why is this guy touching my brother? I didn't think they even knew each other.

I shake my head harder and look at Kim. She shrugs and I turn back.

"Jenny" my brother's imposter chokes out, "I'm sorry."

My eyes well up more, I can't do this. I grab my bags and bolt out the doors, headed to the library.

"Wait, Jenny, no!" I hear a couple voices yell out.

I don't look back as I keep running. My eyes are filled with tears, everything is changing and I don't know who my own family is anymore. It didn't used to be like this. We used to be happy, we were all close to each other. Then the accident happened; I made my family fall apart.

**AN: sorry this is a short chapter, It just felt right to end it here. Review are always appreciated! Let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I don't own anything**

I found myself in the corner of the library, knees up with my head buried in my arms. This was my private place, hidden behind rows of bookshelves. In my previous time, during recovery, I brought some pillows in to make a nest so I could get away from everyone. Only Brady knew where I hid, so I was surprised when Kim was the one that appeared in front of me. Honestly I was a little disappointed Brady didn't come after me.

"Jen, love, how are you doing? I talked to Jared…" I gave her a look, " I know" she continued rolling her eyes, "its not about me, but he told me that Brady really missed you. He said Brady is all torn up inside and wants to talk to you to apologize." She paused, giving me a wary look, "… but he said that Paul needs to be the one to talk to you…"

I sniffled, "why the fuck does Palk fucking Walker want to talk to me?" I put my head back in my arms. Trying to hide the tears leaking from my eyes.

I looked up again, "Brady is my baby brother Kim. I'm supposed to protect him then I lose him in the woods and he disappears for 3 days. I didn't sleep, Kim. I was so worried. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad he is okay. Well I guess okay is a general term now. He completely changed. What happened to him Kim?!" I ended the rant wailing, then lowering my head again.

"Oh honey… I know you're confused. Come on, lets get out of the library at least and we'll go to my house or something. We can have a girls night?" She asked hopefully.

I groaned, "I can't tonight Kim. I really appreciate it but I need to do a bunch of stuff at home."

"Oh" she says disappointed, "okay, well another time then."

I nod and check my watch, "I've gotta get out of here. I need to be alone for a bit before I pick up Maggie"

Kim nods, and we get up. I internally shake myself, trying to get it together for the walk out to the parking lot. I make it to my car, and get in, trying to figure out where to go. The woods is a no go after Brady's transformation; I don't want to catch whatever was going around. Home is a never; the less time spent there, the better. I guess First Beach it is. I start my car and turn up the radio intending to drown out the thought in my head. I need to be numb for a bit. As I drive out of the school parking lot I hear a faint howl, patting myself on the back for not choosing the woods.

At the beach I sit on a log, the sound of the crashing waves lulling my into a numbness I've perfected. The perfect concoction of silence, grey skies, and a bit of white noise. After the accident I spent every piece of free time here. The beach was my safe haven; away from the kids at my school, a mix of pity and contempt twisted on their faces. I was away from the yelling between Mother and Dad, or worse the silence and hate after Dad left. It'd been a while since I'd been back. Ever since Mother checked out, I'd had to take over all the responsibilities at home. I never resented Brady and Maggie for my loss of freedom, taking care of them kept my mind off of everything else; I didn't have time or energy to relive the accident over and over.

I heard a seagull call, breaking me out of my thoughts, and drawing my eyes to the cliffs. I got up from my log and checked the time again; just enough to see what changed up there.

I walked to the edge after hiking to the highest one and looked down. The crashing of the waves was more violent over here, the other cliffs creating walls that all the waves bounced off. I checked my watch again, almost time to get Maggie.

"Jenny"

"Motherfucker" I start to turn, "Where do you get off on scaring me like that, damn" I mumble as I finally look up into cinnamon colored eyes.

"Sorry" he says abashed. He looks up, pleading, "please don't jump"

I roll my eyes and put my hands on my hips, "I wasn't going to jump, not that it's any of your business Paul Walker." I storm past him, back to my car.

"Jenny, wait" I turn with my eyebrow cocked

"I'm sorry, I just… Can we start over?" He walks closer.

I assess him, "No. I'm late. Goodbye Paul Walker."

I got into my car, hearing another howl, and take a deep breath. That was fucking weird. I hear a whine, and look into the woods. I swear I could see eyes staring out at my. Ugh, I must be going crazy. I start the car and head to the middle school.

I get there about ten minutes before they ended so I lay back and close my eyes.

A knock startles me, and I shoot up.

I roll down my window cursing, "why is everyone fucking sneaking up on me today."

"Who else snuck up on you?" Brady asks angrily.

I narrow my eyes at him, "Paul Walker did, but I don't see why that matters"

He swears and starts shaking.

"What the fuck is going on with you right now. Stop fucking shaking Brady." I grab the hand that's resting on my window.

He looks at my hand and takes a deep breath, looking up into my eyes, "Jen, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I disappeared, and I'm sorry I never called. I'm sorry I snuck up on you today too" he ended trying to crack a smile.

I grab his other hand and give him a half smile, "Braids, I love you. I'm so mad at you right now, but I love you, and I am so glad you're alive and safe. We'll get through this, but you need to trust me, and you need to tell me what the fuck is going on."

He nods and smiles. We hear his name shouted and both look up to Maggie sprinting toward up with her sweater and backpack flapping behind her.

We'll get through this, I tell myself, whatever it is, we will stick together. I smile, finally happy seeing my family back together.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I don't own anything**

That night was like finally waking up from a nightmare that had been haunting me for most of the week. I tried to do all the chores Mother expected of me but after the emotional rollercoaster from earlier that day, I was too exhausted to do the extras that Mother wanted. I put Maggie to sleep and collapsed face down on my bed.

What felt like minutes later, I was jolted out of bed, a vice grip on my wrist.

I whimpered and opened my eyes to see a red face glaring down at me. Fuck, Mother is home. She dragged me into the kitchen, yanking on my arm if I ever slowed down. I knew I should've finished everything. She suddenly stopped and turned around, narrowing her eyes and assessing me.

"Well, well, well. Looks like someone didn't finish her job today. You think after everything I've done for you, you can just sit there and waste space? That you can lay there collecting dust, while everything turns into a mess? I wont even start on the cleanliness of this dump!" She screeched at me, her face turning and even darker shade of red. I looked around, sure there were some dishes, but nothing as bad as she was making it sound.

"And imagine my surprise when I get a call," She said, spinning back to face me, her eyes flashing, "from the school telling me that Brady has been absent for a few days."

I cast my eyes down, knowing that interrupting her at this point will only make it worse. She continued her tirade for a few more minutes while I tuned her out. She didn't expect a response from me anyway.

I was broken out of my revere by a quick slap to the face; my eyes darted up to meet hers.

She barred her teeth at me, spitting as she snarled, "you better finish everything you missed before school tomorrow, or you will experience a new kind of pain. And while you're at it, clean the bathrooms and showers."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked out the door, slamming it on her way.

I sat at the kitchen table, feeling like I was in the eye of a tornado. I heaved a sign, and pulled out the bills and checkbook, starting in on a long night.

Between reorganizing the pantry, sweeping the garage, and changing the lightbulbs, I cleaned the bathrooms, not wanting to get behind on them. Around 7 am the next day, I heard the crunch of gravel in the driveway. I looked around nervously, trying to remember all that I had to do, when my eyes landed on the living room rug. I was supposed to wash that. Fuck me.

The slam of the door had me turning back toward it in fear. I closed my eyes and took a breath, knowing I would be missing school today.

Mother walked in. She looked around as I watched her face, praying for her to miss it.

Nope. Of course not. Her head swung around and I internally cringed as she marched toward me.

"Why you little—" she started, slapping me then grabbing my arm. She dragged me toward the living room, "What the fuck do you think I run here? I get you food, I get you everything you need, and all I ask is for a little respect in return. You think what I do is easy? All I want is to come home to a clean house after slaving away at work all day." Mother continued to squeeze, harder and harder, as she amped up her outrage.

I screamed when it got too tight. I felt the bones being crushed under the force of her grip. She threw my arm away from her, my body following it as I crumpled in the corner.

She sneered at me, "Get yourself cleaned up. I will be back in three days and everything better be done. Don't forget: I own you. I own all of you, and everything of yours. If you even think about starting any more trouble, I will ruin you."

With that she ran upstairs. I remained huddled against the wall. Then I forced myself to take a breath, and put up the wall. This was the wall that got me through the hard times. This wall was my best friend, and the only thing that could block out all the pain I felt daily. I stood and forced myself to get up. I knew the moment that Mother had stepped into the house that I would be missing school today in favor of going to the hospital. I had another spiral fracture. I couldn't show weakness though, so I went to my room and got dressed, trying to avoid moving my left arm too much. I got all my things together and waited for Brady and Maggie to wake up and tromp downstairs. As I finished I heard Mother's car start and breathed out in relief. That was one thing I wouldn't have to deal with now.

Since I couldn't use my left arm, I just pulled out cereal and bowls, settling down to wait.

Finally Maggie and Brady came down and started eating their breakfast.

"Jenny," Maggie started, "How come you're not eating?"

"Well hun, Today I am not going to school. This morning I fell down the start and hurt my arm, so I'm going to go to the hospital."

Brady looked up at me questioningly, so I put on my best innocent face. It seemed he believed me, as he put his head back into his cereal.

The finished getting ready and I drove them to school before pulling into the Forks Hospital parking lot.

"Jenny List?" I heard my name being called, and stood up.

"Hi I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, what seems to be the problem?" A pale man, with golden eyes shook my hand.

I looked at him, slightly getting the chills. "Well this morning when I was getting ready for school, I fell down the stairs and fell on my arm wrong."

He nodded, and led me to the X-Ray room. We completed the X-Rays, and he had me sit in the Exam room while he waited for the screens to print.

He came back and stuck the screens up into the light, and slightly hummed to himself. He turned to me, regarding me for a bit before saying, "Jenny, is there anything you'd like to tell me?" I shook my head. "This is a spiral fracture, something commonly seen in abuse victims. Will you tell me again what happened?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I told you, Sir, this morning I tripped and fell down the stairs and landed on my arm all funny." I put on my best innocent look, and he sighed.

"Alright well lets fix up this arm."

He wrapped my arm in a cast, and sent me on my way. I was sure he was going to call my mom later today, but I knew nothing would come of that.

Finally done, and ready to sleep, I made my way home. I changed into sweats, and settled in on the couch, watching television.

I must've fallen asleep because I jolted upright after hearing a banging on my door.

I shuffled to the door and opened it without bothering to look outside.

"Where were you?" I hear a voice demanding of me, the minute I crack the door.

**AN: Please review, I would love some feedback!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hi everyone! I just want to thank everyone that's reviewed and favorited and followed this story! I appreciate it so much, and I'm really sorry that I don't update more, but school and work don't leave me much time to write.**

**Please keep reviewing, I love feedback!**

**PS: I own nothing. **

**Have a good holiday and New Year! :-***

I raise an eyebrow, seeing Paul standing before me. "What the hell? Fuck off Paul, leave me alone." I tried to slam the door when a huge hand stopped it.

"No." he said forcing his way in.

Suddenly his face seemed to contort in anger as he took in a deep breath, and he shoved me into the wall, "who else is here?" he snarled.

I yelped as my arm was jostled. His eyes narrowed in on my arm and he started shaking. I looked at him confused, "bruh, what the fuck is wrong with you" I said, slightly afraid.

He didn't respond, so I grabbed his shoulder and shook him, "Paul!"

Once I touched him he froze and looked up into my eyes. When our eyes connected it felt like the world both stopped and started spinning even faster. I hadn't ever felt like this before, and I felt my walls slam into place.

I didn't like unknown feelings so I pushed him away, "Paul get out of my house! How do you even know where I live?" I shoved past him and yanked the door open, trying to shake off that weird feeling.

He didn't move, so I raised one eyebrow and tapped my foot.

He shook his head, "I'm not moving."

I started walking towards the kitchen and grabbed my backpack and keys, "fine then I will."

I shut the door and jumped into my car just as the front door was thrown open. I quickly locked the doors of my car and sped off before he could reach me. He hit his hand on the trunk of my car as I drove off and as I looked in my rearview mirror I could still see him yelling.

I checked the time on my dashboard and it was close to the time to pick up the kids.

Maggie was bouncing with excitement while telling me about her day but the minute Brady got in my car, he tensed up and didn't talk much. I was only half listening to Maggie as my mind raced with everything that had happened today. I was half expecting Paul to be standing in the shadows when we drove up to the house, but it was all clear.

The minute we entered the house, Brady ran up to his room and threw his bag down before sprinting back out the door.

"Brady!" I yelled.

"I'm going to Jacob's, don't wait up!" he threw over his shoulder.

I shook my head and shut the door. I had too much going on to deal with that right now. That night I performed all my chores as if I were a robot, just going through the motions. I did the rest of my homework, and by the time I had showered and finished cleaning the kitchen it was 4am. I would have to be up in 2 hours to get lunches and everything ready for the next day. I sat at the counter with a cup of tea and one of my favorite books from childhood. It was a book of the legends of the Quileute that my grandpa had given me before he passed. It was one of my favorite books to read when I was stressed out. I started in on the story of the third wife and the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake.

"Jenny?" Maggie asked, "Its almost 7, we need to leave."

I shook my head and looked at the clock before almost jumping out of my skin. "Fuck." I frantically started the coffee maker before rushing upstairs to change.

"Maggie!" I yelled down the stairs, "Did Brady come home last night?"

"I don't think so!"

I swore again but decided I didn't have time to wait, I'd drop Maggie off then go looking.

I had already talked to all of Brady's old friends, though he didn't seem to be hanging out with them as much anymore anyway. H had said he would be at Jacob's, but even he wasn't around. Between classes that morning I jumped in my car and headed over to Jacob's place. I had been there a few times when I was really young and my family would go over there for dinners. That was before the accident though.

I drove quickly, most likely breaking a few laws in the process, but arrived at the house in one piece.

I walked up to the door, not even sure if anyone was home, and knocked sharply.

"Just a sec!" I heard from the other side of the door before it swung open. "Hello dear, what can I do for you today?"

"Uh yeah, hi. I'm Jenny List, I know your son Jacob." I started and he nodded. "My brother, Brady, said he would be coming here yesterday and I haven't heard from him since then. He's been missing a lot of school lately and I really need to find him. Is he here?"

The man in the wheelchair assessed me for a beat before rolling backward. "I'm sorry dear, Jacob and Brady are out right now, but I'll tell them you stopped by!" he said cheerfully, closing the door slowly.

I put my hand on the door, "Wait! I really need to find my brother, sir, where are they?"

He smiled and shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't know, but if I see them I'll pass on the message."

He finally shut the door, and I huffed and headed back toward my car.

I drove back to school, and arrived back in my class. It was almost lunch now, so I had missed most of the period.

I didn't want to go into class in the middle, so I just headed to the library to put my head down and close my eyes.

A few minutes later I heard feet shuffling toward my table, and I cracked one eye open. There was Jacob, Paul, and Embry. Jacob had his hand on Paul's shoulder and was whispering rapidly into his ear, all of their eyes trained on me.

I closed my eyes, gathering a final bout of strength before sitting up and looking at them expectantly. They stopped on the other side of my table and I looked up, sitting back with my arms crossed and my eyebrows raised.

"Can I help you boys? And Jacob, where is my brother?"

I was too tired and confused to fight, I just wanted some peace.

Paul growled when I addressed Jacob, but Jacob just rolled his eyes and pushed Paul forward. "Paul has a couple of things to say to you Jenny. Go ahead"

Paul took a deep breath, still growling slightly until my eyes turned on him. "Jenny" he started, taking a small step forward, "Jenny I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting. I know I shouldn't have forced my way into your house yesterday, I was just worried something had happened to you. And then when I got inside…" he trailed off and Jacob shoved him again, "look, the point is, I like you, and I really want to get to know you. I want to be part of your life. Will you go out with me?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes, "seriously? I bet you use that line on everyone Paul. I don't have time to be one of your skanks, so no thanks."

He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, "Jenny, I promise this isn't a line. How can I prove it to you?" He was quiet for a moment, "can we be friends? I'll prove that I really mean it, that I really want to just be around you."

I look at him skeptically, then looked up at Jacob to see him nodding and smiling. "okay…. I suppose that's fine."

Paul's face lit up and he grabbed my hands, "really? Oh Jenny, thank you! This is great! Do you want to go get lunch right now?"

My eyes widened, "Uh no. I need to find Brady."

The bell was about to ring, so I got up, slinging my bad over my shoulder, and looked at Jacob, "Where the fuck is my brother Jacob."

He put his hands up and said, "he's in class dude chill."

I narrowed my eyes before spinning and walking out


End file.
